In the News

At https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/james-webb-telescope-finds-vanishing-galaxy-from-the-dawn-of-the-universe ... the James Webb Space Telescope finds a vanishing galaxy from the dawn of the universe. It kept disappearing from observations - but

This is an interesting story as normally, when the Ataama desert is mentioned, it is usually the part that exists in Chile. In this post

Robert sent in a couple of interesting links worth a look. The Asia Times is running a series of articles by Eric Lerner. The first

At https://spaceweather.com ..... archive, December 13th, 2023. This post concerns the Geminid meteor stream. Earth is currentlyt passing through this annual meteor shower, and the

At https://phys.org/news/2023-11-astronomers-supernova-remnants-meerkat.html ... the MeerKAT radio telescope has been used to look at a region of the sky where a supernova was observed breaking up.

At https://phys.org/news/2023-11-modern-maize-hybrid-years-mexico.html ... For some time the consensus has been that maize was domesticated from a single wild grass - teosinte. This is thought to

At https://www.sciencenews.org/article/polygon-rock-patterns-mars-climate ... on Mars, the Chinese rover, Zhurong, has  found polygon structures  buried dozens of metres below the landing site. Similar polygonal patterns occur

At https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/curse-tablet-with-oldest-hebrew-name-of-god-is-actually-a-fishing-weight-experts-argue ... this goes back to an archaeological find last year - in Israel. A very small piece of lead that had been folded

Willaim sent in the link https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/archaeologists-found-ancient-bird-footprints-205000523.html .... geologists find ancient bird footprints that are 60 million years too early. That is the headline. The footprints

William sent in the National Geographic link https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/have-scientists-found-800000-year-old-meteorite-impact-crater .. which is a story from a couple of years ago but in the news again. The

At https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/possible-arctic-graveyard-may-be-northernmost-stone-age-cemetery-but-there-are-no-human-remains-to-prove-it ... another intriguing archaeological discovery. Archaeologists have discovered what looks like a prehistoric cemetery  in northern Europe. Just outside the Arctic Circle. In

At https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/enormous-hydrothermal-vent-field-with-ancient-50-foot-tall-chimneys-discovered-near-underwater-volcano ... interesting discovery. The bottom of the sea is upsetting cosy mainstream ideas. A two thousand feet long hydrothermal field teeming with life

Over at https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/strange-object-trapped-between-saturn-and-uranus-is-transforming-before-our-eyes ... a distant comet trapped between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus seems to be accompanied by a transforming disc of icy

William sent in the link https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-find-huge-planet-that-shouldn-t-exist/ ... but see also https://www.livescience.com/space/exoplanets/enormous-planet-discovered-around-tiny-star-could-break-our-understanding-of-solar-system-formation ... basically, what has excited astronomers is the discovery of a giant planet orbiing

The Parker Solar Probe has led to a new explanation on how magnetic switchbacks form in the solar wind. See https://phys.org/news/2023-11-theory-magnetic-switchbacks-solar.html ... the theory is

The ozone  layer is back in the news it seems. That research paper last week seems to have upset the Blob. At https://phys.org/news/2023-11-science-ozone-layer.html ... here

This is, surprisingly, at https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03546-w ... and it caused archaeologists to raise their eyebrows. You have to wonder  why in a month when it was

At https://www.livescience.com/space/black-holes/strange-blob-circling-milky-ways-central-black-hole-is-shooting-powerful-radiation-at-earth-every-76-minutes ...  regular high energy pulses of gamma ray radiation emerge from around the Milky Way's central black hole - may be coming from

At https://www.newsweek.com/ancient-shark-species-discovered-hidden-in-worlds-largest-cave-system-1834492.html ... the cave system is in south central Kentucky - accessed in Mammoth Cave National Park. The caves extend for some 40 miles

William sent in the link - more than an asteroid may have caused the demise of the dinosaurs. See https://www.yahoo.com/news/extinction-dinosaurs-study-suggests-were-203306385.html ... which is at last